Tag Archive for: #hendersonnews

Vance Co. Regional Farmers Market

Weekly Farmers Market Bounty: Berries, Greens, Potatoes And More!

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The Vance County Regional Farmers Market Manager Pat Ayscue invites you to come out to the market Saturday – it’s all abuzz – with local honey and so much more! Strawberries are freshly picked, and you can almost taste the sweetness with your eyes. New potatoes are just-dug from local gardens, just waiting for customers to grab them up and take them home for dinner. Sweet potatoes are perfect for a sweet potato pie.

And don’t forget the greens: turnip salad, pointy-head cabbage and broccoli are just some of the early-season delights from area producers waiting to be scooped up and enjoyed.

Each new week, the farmers’ tables show that the season is moving forward. Jellies, pickles, and double WOW! at those fresh baked goods. Farm-fresh eggs gathered from some might well-loved and cared for hens. Handmade wood crafts and quilts. Soaps are designed for gifts and soaps for cleaning. Plants for home and garden. Fresh-cut flowers available for all occasions. Stop by and visit for that neighborhood and community feeling. Thanks for supporting your local farmer’s market.

The farmers market is located at 210 Southpark Drive and is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The market is set to open on Wednesdays and Saturdays beginning in June.

TownTalk: The Future of McGregor Hall

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In six short years, Henderson’s McGregor Hall has earned a reputation across the area – and region – as a quality venue for hosting concerts, performances and competitions.

Executive Director Mark Hopper booked perhaps the venue’s most important act last month, however, when the Henderson City Council held its April meeting inside the facility for a one-man show: Hopper took center stage seeking financial support for the 1,000-seat theatre.

Hopper asked the Council for $75,000; County Manager C. Renee Perry told WIZS News that the county received a request for $60,000.

The recommended 2024-25 budget presented Monday to the City Council does not have a line item to support McGregor Hall; Perry told WIZS News that there is nothing in the county budget at present either.

The county commissioners are expected to receive the 2024-25 recommended budget on Tuesday, May 28.

Municipal and county budgets are supposed to be adopted by July 1, which is the start of the new fiscal year, and time is of the essence for McGregor Hall.

“What we need is help with our debt service,” Hopper told the City Council in April. “We will not survive 2025 without support.”

In his April presentation to City Council, Hopper said the venue, although doing very well at the box office, is drowning in mortgage debt. One quarter of the total revenue goes to service the mortgage.

Hopper is the lone full-time employee, and he works alongside five part-time employees and several hundred volunteers.

McGregor Hall is under the governance of the nonprofit Embassy Cultural Center Foundation and is propped up with solid local partnerships, dedicated individuals and business sponsors.

WIZS previously reported on the recent economic impact study that showed McGregor Hall has contributed $9.2 million to the local economy over the past four years – $5.1 in lodging bookings alone. The county benefits from motel/hotel tax revenues; the city and county benefit from taxes generated from the more than 30,000 guests to its rental events, namely in the form of 15 weekends of spring dance competitions.

Hopper said that every single dollar of investment to McGregor Hall brings a return of $31 to the community.

About 40 percent of revenues come from ticket sales, which Hopper said is in keeping with the industry standard. Grant funding, rental fees and concessions each kick in 10 percent and 20 percent from local business sponsors.

It would mean a lot for local government leaders to put a price tag on what it means to have a top-notch venue in Henderson and Vance County that draws patrons from the Triangle to southside Virginia – both to watch performances as well as to be on stage for shows.

Hopper said McGregor Hall is helping to change the perception of Henderson and Vance County, one performance at the time.

Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Patience

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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TownTalk: City of Henderson Budget Prelim

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Henderson City Council member Garry Daeke has had a couple of days to review and reflect on the 2024-25 budget that was presented Monday by City Manager Terrell Blackmon.

It’s a delicate balance, Daeke said, to create a budget that provides for citizens’ wants and needs – without putting those same citizens in a bind by raising taxes, fees and more.

“I do enjoy the challenge of taking a budget and looking at all the different pieces,” Daeke said on Wednesday’s TownTalk. The cost of those services versus the tax rate is always a balancing act, and it’s one that Council members will begin discussing at a work session on Monday, May 20.

Blackmon’s presentation included details of a $25 million General Fund budget, and a total budget figure of somewhere around $45 million. The 158-page document can be found on the city’s webpage at henderson.nc.gov, under the Departments heading, click on Finance to go directly to the dropdown box where the document is located.  (Or click here as of 5-15-24.)

“The city’s growing,” Daeke said. “We have so many things we’d like to do.” But how to fund those things is what the budget discussion will be about.

Added to the mix is the recent revaluation of properties in the county, which will generate additional revenue for the city in the form of property tax.

A 45-cent per $100 of value would generate the same amount of tax revenue as this year, Daeke said. “We need some increase, I think. I do not think it needs to be 10 cents.”

A 55-cent per $100 value would generate between $4 and 4.5 million, he calculated, and a 65-cent per $100 value would bring in $7 million. He said, however, that he would not vote for a 55-cent tax rate unless he was thoroughly convinced otherwise during the course of the upcoming budget discussions. If the city were to keep the current tax rate of 75 cents per $100, it would generate roughly $10 million.

Generally speaking, overall property values in the city increased about 63 percent since the last revaluation in 2016. That means many property owners will have to pay higher tax bills, maybe a couple of hundred extra dollars, in the city, Daeke noted.

And that, coupled with higher monthly bills like water and sewer, could pose problems for folks who may be struggling to make ends meet as it is. “We have to be cognizant of what people can afford.”

Landlords most likely would have to increase rents to help absorb those rising costs, Daeke said. “It could be a phenomenal amount in a year’s time for people who are struggling to pay their bills.”

Another funding stream comes from sales tax collection, which continues to be strong in the city. “We’ve done well in terms of people staying home and spending money,” he said.

The budget also calls for moving $4 million from the fund balance to offset non-recurring federal ARPA funds. Daeke said there’s “extra” money available because of having unfilled positions within the city.

Once those positions are filled, however, that “extra” money will not be available.

Some of the other items on the expenditure side of the ledger in the future include a new fire station, completion of the park on William Street and housing redevelopment.

“We’ve taken down 300 homes – we need to start putting stuff back,” Daeke said. “That can’t be done without some funding.”

A major contributor to the sales tax coffers is McGregor Hall. Economic impact studies show that the entertainment venue draws people from across the region to see concerts, performances and participate in dance competitions, just to name a few.

Daeke said he would like to see more support for McGregor Hall from local government.

“I believe it’s time to help them stay in business,” he said, noting that there is nothing in the recommended budget at present.

One idea that’s floating around is to purchase the property on which the former Falkner Building Supply once stood. It’s part of the original McGregor family bequest, Daeke said, so McGregor Hall owns it.

“We’d love to purchase that and put a parking area and other businesses there” to create a cash flow for McGregor Hall and to contribute to the economic vitality to the downtown area.

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Edmonds Tennis Foundation

TownTalk: Edmonds Uses Tennis To Promote Oral Health

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The tennis courts at Fox Pond Park will be occupied Saturday with young people swinging racquets and … toothbrushes?

That’s right, it’s Tennis and Dentist Community Fun Day, hosted by Edmonds Tennis and Education Foundation.

Young people ages 5-18 are invited to come out to the park for the event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fox Pond Park is located at 375 Vicksboro Rd.

Participants will get free tennis lessons from some tennis experts and they’ll learn the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene from a couple of local tooth experts.

Dr. Jerry Edmonds, III and his wife Dorcel launched the 501c3 in 2018 and this is their third fun day event to introduce the sport of tennis to young people.

The foundation was named National Junior Tennis Learning Chapter of the Year back at a meeting in January, at which time the 17 North Carolina NJTL chapters were challenged with coming up with an innovative way to teach tennis in combination with a community learning experience.

Edmonds said his wife came up with the idea on the drive back home from the meeting.

The foundation uses the game of tennis as a vehicle to foster and develop positive character traits including integrity, honesty and more, Edmonds said.

And since May is National Tennis Month, they’re offering a tennis clinic and an oral hygiene clinic. But this clinic won’t have kids opening wide for the dentist to peer inside at teeth and gums; rather, there will giveaways of things like toothbrushes, floss and more, Edmonds said.

“The goal is to teach (children) early on the importance of good dental hygiene,” he said.

Granville Vance Public Health representatives will be on hand with information about its dental clinic, for example, and its school-based program called “The Tooth Club.”

Last year, the foundation awarded 17 $500 scholarships to graduating high school seniors to use toward college costs.

Sponsorships are vital to the foundation’s scholarship program, but Edmonds said the “secret sauce” is pairing local sponsors with those scholarship recipients to create a mentor/mentee relationship.

Through the scholarship program, tennis clinics and more, Edmonds said he hopes the foundation is creating “an army of givers” who will spread out across the community and beyond and to keep coming up with ways to be involved.

 

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The Local Skinny! Making Things Happen Downtown

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The Henderson City Council Monday approved a tax incentive program to encourage downtown business owners to make improvements to the overall appearance of downtown without adding to their tax bill.

Downtown Development Coordinator Tracy Madigan explained on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny! that the tax incentives would occur over a five-year period. The idea is pretty simple: when a business owner makes improvements to a building’s interior or exterior,  the presumption that the property value – and associated tax – would also increase.

Through the tax incentive program,  Madigan said the additional tax amount would be waived 100 percent. In Year 2, the percent would drop to 80 percent, and continue at that rate until Year 5, when the tax due would be 20 percent of the higher tax bill.

There are programs in place to help downtown businesses with items like new awnings and signs, she said, but the tax incentive plan provides “a little more meat” to support existing businesses and to encourage new businesses to come downtown.

“This has a lot of teeth to incentivize (downtown business owners) and make improvements downtown,” Madigan said. It’s just one of the things in the proverbial pipeline that she said would motivate improvements in the overall appearance of the downtown area.

Madigan said recent changes made by the City Council to create a separate board to oversee the city’s participation in the NC Main Street program is just one way to strengthen downtown revitalization efforts. The newly created board can focus specifically on the Main Street Program. Previously, the Henderson-Vance Downtown Development Commission board had served in this capacity, and Madigan said creating a new board to focus on the Main Street program will free up the HVDC board to implement additional strategies to support downtown revitalization.

“It’s a way to improve downtown from two different directions – and get more done,” she said.

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Cooperative Extension With Paul McKenzie 05-14-24

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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